aerospace | The Silo

“Space Fence locates and track space objects with more precision than ever before to help the Air Force transform space situational awareness from being reactive to predictive.”

Lockheed Martin delivered up to two advanced S-Band phased array radars for the Space Fence program. The Space Fence radar system greatly improves Space Situational Awareness of the existing Space Surveillance Network.

There is a lot to track and growing space debris every year.

Construction of the new Space Fence system on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands began in February 2015

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 113,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

On 16 December 2002, US President George W. Bush signed National Security Presidential Directive which outlined a plan to begin deployment of operational ballistic missile defense systems by 2004.

The following day the US formally requested from the UK and Denmark use of facilities in RAF Fylingdales, England and Thule, Greenland respectively, as a part of the NMD Program.

The administration continued to push the program, despite highly publicized but not unexpected trial-and-error technical failures during development and over the objections of some scientists who opposed it. The projected cost of the program for the years 2004 to 2009 was 53 billion US dollars/ 74.55 billion CAD dollars, making it the largest single line in The Pentagon’s budget. For the Silo, George Filer.

I began writing this post after an annual viewing pilgrimage of sorts. Each year on the eve of shopping’s busiest day, I crack open the well worn plastic jewel case and fire up the DVD player. It’s a fictional account but based in fact and is very entertaining and I can’t help but wonder what “might have been” after watching CBC’s 1996 mini-series “the Arrow” again. [You can watch this right here at the end of this post CP]

Over the decades fact and fiction have become tangled but the basic truths remain intact. In the late 1950’s a highly advanced jet interceptor designed to seek (and if necessary destroy) Russian nuclear bombers was conceived, designed, built and flown in Canada by a predominantly Canadian team. Here’s where things get fuzzy. The Arrow was developed when the federal Liberal party were in power but was finished and flown when the Conservatives were in power. It represented not only the technological capability of Canada’s aviation industry- but also the econo-political agenda of the mid-twentieth Century. So what happened at that time to help spell the doom of the Arrow?

-The ICBM- intercontinental ballistic missile was viewed as the future of warfare not the nuclear bomber. This meant that a jet interceptor was obsolete because it would be unable to intercept approaching missiles.

-Bad timing: on the day of the rollout of the very first completed Arrow, the Russians launched Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. In the public eye jets seemed unimportant.

-The American Bomarc missile system was designed to intercept incoming nuclear bombers and ballistic nuclear missiles. The Bomarc had a small nuclear warhead which would detonate in the pathway of approaching missiles (or bombers) and create a nuclear ‘shield’. The Bomarc was highly controversial at the time because our Prime Minister did not want nuclear missiles on Canadian territory. However, our Defence Minister did not agree and eventually resigned over the matter. This defence ‘split’ exacerbated the Arrow program and any chance for an Arrow squadron legacy.

-The Canadian designed Iroquois engines were not readied in time and were not fitted into the Arrow. These engines were innovative and theoretically could have propelled the Arrow to speeds of Mach 2.5 or possibly Mach 3.0- far beyond every fighter of the time with the exception of secret black technology projects like the American Blackbird SR-71. Had the Canadian engines been readied and proven, there seems little doubt that international orders would have offset some of the Arrow’s mounting costs.

Black Friday…….almost 15,000 workers lose their job.

There is no official record of just who ordered the destruction of the remaining Arrows. Other than a few recovered test models, an incomplete cockpit and a few seconds of in flight film, nothing remains of this wonderful airplane . For the Silo, Jarrod Barker.

The completed Arrows being cut up and readied for a Hamilton,ON scrap dealer.

Supplemental-

University of Saskatchewan The Nuclear Question in Canada http://www.usask.ca/diefenbaker/galleries/virtual_exhibit/nuclear_question_in_canada/

Post Featured Image- http://plunkettgw.deviantart.com/art/AVRO-ARROW-17-139364086

Boeing’s Bomarc Missile http://www.boeing.com/boeing/history/boeing/bomarc.page

The Silo

Tag Archives: aerospace

Lockheed Martin Space Fence Tracks 25,000 Orbiting Objects

“Space Fence locates and track space objects with more precision than ever before to help the Air Force transform space situational awareness from being reactive to predictive.”

On 16 December 2002, US President George W. Bush signed National Security Presidential Directive which outlined a plan to begin deployment of operational ballistic missile defense systems by 2004.

Canada’s Original Black Friday- ‘Cancelled Arrow’ Was Cutting Edge 1950s Jet Interceptor

Canada's 'biggest little blogspace'